


Kegare

by CourierNinetyTwo



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: F/F, Vampire!Sae
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-30 19:24:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12659856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CourierNinetyTwo/pseuds/CourierNinetyTwo
Summary: Tae has treated Sadayo as a patient for years, but something changes when another woman comes into her life.





	Kegare

**Author's Note:**

> For barddog!

There was something amiss in Kawakami Sadayo's medical history.

Tae only saw her once in a blue moon, owing to the teacher's surprisingly hectic schedule, but running the singular clinic in town that did midnight check-ups meant Sadayo always eventually returned, like a stray cat seeking cream. The buzzer in front carried all the way into the back office, its distant alarm snapping Tae out of a paper on acute intermittent porphyria. Fascinating as glucose infusions were, she rubbed the strain out of her eyes and slipped through the door dividing lobby from private sanctum.

Sadayo was waiting by the front desk, one hand on the button and the other buried in the pocket of a dark grey jacket that didn't quite fit her shoulders. A black scarf looped her neck twice, obscuring everything from chin to collarbone, and Tae couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

It was only fall, and barely so at that.

"Kawakami-sensei." She formed her mouth into a polite, near-professional smile. "What can I do for you?"

"Doctor." Sadayo's smile was a veneer too, more fragile than her own. "Can we go inside your office?"

It was a not-so-subtle request for privacy, and Tae directed her through the door without another word. Once Sadayo took a seat on the bed, she stripped off the jacket, rubbing at her arms like they still weren't quite warm enough.

The scarf stayed on.

"I need something to keep awake." Sadayo said without preamble, folding her hands together in her lap. "More energy, I guess."

"Because you're staying up so late?" Tae asked, leaning back against her desk, but not yet taking a seat. She was still observing, counting the symptoms that weren't disclosed. "Because I would recommend a good night's sleep."

That narrow smile turned sheepish. "I don't really have a choice. There's school in the daytime, then I have to grade papers, and after--"

"I thought you quit your second job." The interruption was met with wide eyes, and Tae caught the implication. "Or did you go back to it?"

"I didn't, I just..." The edge of Sadayo's teeth worried her lip, leaving behind a subtle groove. "Someone got me out of it."

Someone with deep enough pockets to keep Sadayo all to themselves. "And he's keeping you up at all hours?"

"She." Sadayo corrected softly.

"My apologies. I shouldn't have presumed." Tae noted the second part of her question met no protest, and filed that away. "You do look pale, Sadayo. I'm tempted to test you for anemia."

In the past, Tae had prescribed stimulants for fatigue and the occasional immune booster when Sadayo was on the verge of stress-induced sickness, but something was different now. She wasn't quite sure what until spying the ring of bruises peeking out just below Sadayo's sleeve.

"Could you take off your scarf, please?" She had a feeling what was underneath it, and expected the way Sadayo's spine stiffened afterwards.

"I don't want to. It's cold." The protest was weak, but when Sadayo caught Tae's eyes glancing down at her arm, she let out a soft laugh. "Oh."

"If you're being hurt--" Tae began.

"It was an accident." Sadayo said quickly, then sighed. "Right, I'm sure everyone says that, but it actually was. She's really strong, and since I've been, ahem, under the weather, I don't heal as fast."

"I see." There was no forcing the matter, but Tae reminded herself to refill the business cards for that one hotline in the lobby. "Counterintuitive as it sounds, I need to draw some blood to confirm my diagnosis, alright?"

"That's just my life lately, huh?" Sadayo joked, and held out her arm.

Tae didn't make sense of that until a few days later, long after she had sent the other woman home with iron supplements and a stern order to prioritize fluids and rest. She was off-duty technically, dressed for a night in Shinjuku that would inevitably end at Crossroads, drink in hand.  It was on her way there that a gasp from the nearby alley caught her ear, a sound that wouldn't have been out of the ordinary if she didn't recognize the woman making it.

Sadayo had her back against a wall, but most of her body was obscured by another's. If not for the neon flash from the street, Tae wouldn't have been able to make out the details, but past a cloak of shadow, there was a slate gray suit and silver hair spilling down well-tailored shoulders.

"You should have told me." The stranger whispered, face barely an inch from Sadayo's. "I wouldn't have taken so much."

"I'm fine, Sae." Reaching out to toy with the button holding Sae's jacket closed, Sadayo smiled. "It felt good."

"But the bruises..." Concern bled into the taller woman's voice, and Tae suddenly put two and two together.

"Happened because I asked you to be rough with me." Releasing her tenuous grip, Sadayo's hands slipped upward to cup Sae's face. "Relax. I'm ready when you are."

Tae could only stare in shock as fangs protruded over Sae's lower lip, sharp as a serpent's. Her eyes were a deep red, unmistakably sanguine as she leaned forward and pressed a firm kiss to Sadayo's mouth. It was answered with a soft moan, lingering until Sae started to kiss down her jaw, following that crucial line of bone and sinew until finding where the pulse beat in Sadayo's throat.

Those teeth sank in deep, breaking skin, and when blood rose to the surface, Sadayo shivered from head to toe. Sae's tongue flickered out to catch a stray drop, feeding in small, controlled swallows.

"What the hell?" Tae whispered, wondering if she'd been slipped something somehow. She hadn't even _started_ to drink yet.

Her near-silent outburst somehow met Sae's ears, and that was enough to draw an almost feral glare in her direction. Every instinct in Tae's body screamed _predator_ , primal enough that she almost tripped on herself running in the other direction.

She didn't stop until she was on the train home, breathing hard enough for the world to be white on the edges.

\--

After a nightmare-laden night's sleep, Tae had almost convinced herself it was just another dream. It wasn't as if she was unaware of certain subcultures, of various psychological disorders that manifested with unusual -- and sometimes harmful -- behavior, but that didn't explain a physical disparity like fangs.

Thankfully the clinic was quiet for most of the day, and after treating a sore throat and a sprained wrist, Tae felt more like herself again. Once the sun set, she retreated back into academic research, poring over endless theories to try and divine the cure hiding within.

Then the door buzzed.

Without thinking, she got up to answer it, but as soon as the office door swung open, Tae froze in place.

Sae stood at the front desk, cutting a severe figure in the sterile white of the room. Every part of her was porcelain and steel save those crimson eyes, their color without question under harsh fluorescents.

"Can I help you?" Tae asked, forcing the question past the dryness in her throat.

"I think you can." Reaching in her jacket, Sae produced a business card and held it out. "Although we haven't been formally introduced, Doctor."

Skimming the card once wasn't enough. Tae had to shove past her disbelief and read the text on it in full. "Niijima Sae, with the prosecutor's office?"

"My family has been in law enforcement for a very long time." Even lacking emphasis, she heard the weight in that _very_ , and all it implied. "But that's not why I'm here."

"You're here because of Sadayo." Tae said, almost accusatory.

"I'm here because you took care of her." There was no anger in Sae's voice; if anything, it was a cool respect. "And I want you to keep doing that."

Biting her tongue back on an insult, Tae let her curiosity come to the fore instead. "How so?"

"Any tests she needs, any supplements that Shujin's insurance won't cover. You bill me instead." She gestured to the card in Tae's hand. "I want her healthy."

"So you can--" Tae started.

"That's only a part of our relationship." Sae interrupted sharply. "But a necessary one."

Accepting that meant breaking down any number of other beliefs, but for now, Tae didn't see any choice but to take Sae at her word. "And what do I get out of this?"

"Beyond money?" Sae paused, then smiled. "Ah, I see. For your discretion."

Tae was about to answer when Sae took a step forward, closing the distance between the two of them. For a moment she was eclipsed by Sae's shadow, the other woman's height even more intimidating up close. Their faces were inches apart, but she couldn't feel the warmth of Sae's breath.

In fact, she didn't even see Sae's chest rising and falling at all.

"Sadayo likes you." Sae whispered, and when the line of her teeth were bared, the sharpness of each canine came into view. "Enough to share my favors, if you're so inclined."

"What kind of favors?" Tae asked breathlessly.

"Take me back into your office and you'll find out." That dark red gaze was hypnotic, compelling an entirely different feeling than the terror from the night before. "I'm sure you know how to get blood out of white sheets."

She certainly did, but that was the last thing on Tae's mind as Sae pushed her down against the bed, cold hands bringing heat in their wake.

\--

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Tsumi](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12872658) by [CourierNinetyTwo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CourierNinetyTwo/pseuds/CourierNinetyTwo)




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